Biological sciences

Structure and protein design of a human platelet function inhibitor

Article Abstract:

Platelet activation is inhibited through hematophagous arthropods that secrete a salivary apyrase by catabolizing ADP released from damaged tissues and blood cells. The human apyrase was redesigned using a comparative structural biology approach so as to enhance its ADPase activity by more than 100-fold.

Converting a motor to an anchor

Article Abstract:

Myosin VI moves along actin filaments to serve as a transport motor and it is also thought to anchor vesicles or proteins to actin. Load applied to myosin VI that can convert this motor from a transport to an anchor using single molecule observations is demonstrated.